One Moms Quest to Contain the Chaos

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Shining Moment

This weekend Sweets had her shining moment. Or maybe I had MY shining moment. Well, at least one of us had a shining moment.

Sweets ran her first 50 yard dash. In a field day track meet. On a real track.

This is when all those who know me, that I ran track all through school, my love of track starting in elementary school where I won the 50 yard dash and my first blue ribbon (I beat a boy…not just any boy, but the fastest boy in the school. Which then made me the fastest PERSON in the school. And I know that fast boy reads this blog and he’s thinking to himself, “REALLY Voltzy? STILL!?!?”), are groaning and thinking, “oh no, she’s going to be THAT mom.”

I actually got a bit anxious about that myself, to be quite honest. I don’t want to be THAT parent, sitting on the sidelines, yelling and coaching and being all kinds of the opposite of a positive parent. I want to be the parent that is silently proud and beaming.

Well, I was certainly proud and beaming. I was also certainly NOT silent.

I had a great experience as part of my Junior High and High School track team. I loved the competition, I loved the camaraderie, I loved being part of a team. There was nothing better than being up on the podium accepting a medal with my relay teammates, cheering for my team, and sharing in the collective joys of a team doing well. Or just DOING THEIR BEST. Which is what I try to focus on with Sweets- DO YOUR BEST. If you do your best and don’t win, you may be disappointed, but you should still be proud of your effort.

Sweets has a tendency to not want to do something if she can’t do it perfectly. She wants to do everything the right way the very first time she tries it. She’s had her eye on my blue ribbon for a while, and has said she “wants it” and could she have it?

I told her no. Why not just give it to her, you ask? Because think of when you have done something for the first time and were given praise, or a medal, or a ribbon, or were just told “good job” for something YOU did. How did you feel? It was pretty great, right?

It’s not about the ribbon- it is about what the ribbon represents. MY blue ribbon represents MY hard work (well, I was in 6th grade and beating that fast boy wasn’t THAT hard). I could give her the ribbon, but what is behind that? What does that mean? That as a mom I am willing to just give my daughter whatever she wants because she wants it?

No. She needs to work for her accomplishments, just like the rest of us. I will not hand it to her. Believe me, I will be (as you have seen) be a screaming banshee supporting her in whatever she decides to do. I don’t care if she wins (but I will celebrate accordingly if she does) or loses (I will dry tears and dole out hugs if necessary).

She didn’t win Saturday, because the day wasn’t about winning. It was about experiencing something for the first time and having a REALLY GOOD time. It was about the feeling you get when you are part of a team. Everyone got a medal, because everyone deserved a medal for showing up and trying something that maybe they were a bit scared of trying.

She had her shining moment. Look at that face! The look on that face and what that look represents- that is MY shining moment.